Explore "The Vortex" by Noël Coward on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The scene is the hall of Mrs. Lancaster's house, about forty miles from London.
When the curtain rises it is just after dinner on the Sunday of the weekend party -- the gramophone is going and there is a continual buzz of conversation. Clara Hibbert, an emaciated soprano, is dancing with Tom Veryan, Helen with Pawnie, and Nicky with Bunty. Florence is seated on the club fender, talking intellectually with Bruce Fairlight, an earnest dramatist, the squalor of whose plays is much appreciated by those who live in comparative luxury.